Pens and needles symptoms and conditions

In my case, Cipro tablets were prescribed for a potential prostate infection. The first dose was taken on 12/12/07. While taking this medication, I experienced "pens and needles" and shooting pains all over my body, leg pains behind my knees, right groin swelling to the point I could barely walk, and chest discomfort just below the sternum. The chest discomfort started after the second dose. My use of this drug was discontinued on about 12/17/07 (after 6 doses). I threw it away. Read the label BEFORE you start this medication. It's quite alarming after the fact.

I let my physician know about my problems with the Cipro and he then prescribed Levaquin, 500 mg, which is the same class of antibiotic. This was confusing to me later since I told them about the problems with Cipro. The doctor knows best...right- so I took 1 Levaquin per day from 12/21/07 until 12/26/07, again about 6 doses. My symptoms re-appeared after about the third day. Pen and needle pains re-occurred although they never entirely went away from the Cipro, severe swelling and tendon pain behind knees- especially the left knee, some chest discomfort, swelling in the armpits, and groin area. Swelling sensations were most prevalent behind both knees and the armpits. Shooting pains also occurred everywhere in my body, especially in the arms and legs. Shooting pains also occurred in my head and jaw with no warning but were less severe. The bottoms of my feet also hurt at times. Sleep was difficult to come by so extreme fatigue set in. I have been off the Levaquin now since 12/26/07 (5 days) and still have some shooting pains but some of the swelling has subsided. The symptoms have reduced but not disappeared entirely. I will never take a quinolone antibiotic again. My suggestion to others is to file an Adverse Drug Reaction report with FDA on their Medwatch website.

I again saw the physician on 12/27/07 and he said that it's "possible" I could be having a rare side effect. Another physician I know said I was having some type of hypersensitivity to the medication but that he had never come across such a case in his practice. Just my luck.